My Favorite Things

Get Sketchy Blog

Hi there!  How was your Thanksgiving???  (Or for those of you outside the US, how was your Thursday?)  :)

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year.....family, fun, food, and maybe even a NAP after all of that food and fun!  LOL!  This year, we road tripped and spent part of the holiday with my side of the family at my sister's house which was great because it gave us lots of time with 'the babies' (my niece and nephew).  Ally (almost 2yrs old) was SO excited to see each family member walk thru the door at her house....SO cute!  We also got to spend some time in the evening with Bart's side of the family.  We have so much fun when we get together.....we laughed and laughed and laughed.  I just love that!  I hope that your day was in some way filled with family or fun or laughter or all of the above!  :)

Recently, I was invited to play along with the girls at the Get Sketchy Blog and create a card using their sketch #16.  Here's the sketch:

For my card, I used a bit of vintage book print and stamped a background pattern from Papertrey's First Fruits stamp set over the text.  The leaf image is also from First Fruits......I've always loved that background pattern and leaf.  The great sentiments I used are both from the new Big & Bold Wishes stamp set.  Love those sentiments!

I had so much fun making this card!  Thanks, Get Sketchy (& Bree), for having me!

Happy Friday, Dearies....may your weekend be a fun & restful one.  :)
 

{Sending You supplies}
Paper: pure poppy, dark chocolate, vintage cream, vintage book print
Stamps: Big & Bold Wishes, First Fruits
Ink: dark chocolate, pure poppy
Other: pure poppy vintage buttons, rustic jute button twine, dark chocolate luxe satin ribbon, Kaiser Scrapbook rhinestones, Fiskars upper crest punch
  

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello there and to those of you that are reading in the US, Happy Thanksgiving!!  I have a couple of fun cards to share with you, the first of which describes what I'm feeling today......THANKFUL.  I have SO much to be thankful for and YOU are on that list!  I could go on and on about the things in my life that I can be thankful for....I'll bet we all could come up with a pretty long list if we thought about it for a bit, right?  Among the things that I'm most thankful for are my relationship with God, my hottie husband who shows me daily how much he loves me, my family, our friends, the freedom that we have in this country, our cozy home, our sweet doggie-boy, etc.  I really could go on and on.  

But for today, I just want to make sure that each of you, my dear readers, know how thankful I am for you!  I'm thankful that you stop by and share a bit of your day with me.  I'm thankful for the friendships that have developed with so many of you over time.  I'm thankful that some of you take time to leave me a note here at the blog-o.  I'm thankful that I've had the opportunity to get to 'know' so many of you, even if it's online only.....some of you are right here in my town and some of you are on another continent and to each of you, I want to say THANK YOU.  I pray that whether you're celebrating Thanksgiving today or not, that you would be able to take a few minutes today to reflect on the things in your life that you're most thankful for.   And if you feel like it, I'd love to hear what those things are!

 

So, now that I've gotten all mushy on you, I should tell you about today's cards!  :)  Mandy over at Limelight Papercrafts recently asked me to participate in one of their sketch challenges and I was happy to play along!  In fact, I got so carried away working with the goodies that Mandy sent me, that I made two cards using the sketch.

On the first card, I used a kraft note card from Jillibean Soup and some patterned papers and a stitched brad from Basic Grey's Nook & Pantry line.....are those papers pretty or what?  Ahhh......so cheery.  I stamped a leaf image from Papertrey's Turning a New Leaf stamp set on a butterfly that I die cut using my Bigz Beautiful Butterflies die from Stampin' Up!  Then, I attached the brad to the center and added some tiny pearls (Kaiser Scrapbook) to create a little butterfly trail.  I thought the sentiment, from Papertrey's First Fruits stamp set, was so perfect for today.....for conveying how I'm feeling.  Thankful.

 

As for my second card, it's lots more Basic Grey papers from the same 6x6 Nook & Pantry paper pad as well as another one of their stitched brads.  Those things are so cool!  This time, I put a big brad in the center of a flower that I punched out with my Marvy extra jumbo flower punch.  The ribbon on this card is Papertrey's ocean tides classic grosgrain......is that a great color match or what?  And the sentiment stamps are from the Giga Guide Lines set.

 

The girls at Limelight would love it if you'd play along with their sketch this week!  Besides using the sketch, they're focusing on patterned paper and they've even got a prize to give away so be sure to check it out!  

Thanks so much, to Mandy and the Limelight girls for including me this week!  I had so much fun!

Have a wonderful, wonderful day, Sweet Friends!

{THANKFUL supplies}
Paper: Jillibean soup note card, Basic Grey Nook & Pantry patterned papers, Papertrey vintage cream
Stamps: Turning a New Leaf, First Fruits
Ink: dark chocolate
Other: Basic Grey Nook & Pantry stitched brad, Kaiser Scrapbook pearls, EK Success diamond lace punch, SU! Bigz Beautiful Butterflies die, corner chomper

{Birthday Wishes supplies}
Paper: Jillibean soup note card, Basic Grey Nook & Pantry patterned papers, Papertrey rustic cream
Stamps: Giga Guide Lines
Ink: dark chocolate
Other: ocean tides classic grosgrain ribbon, Marvy extra jumbo flower punch, Fiskars apron lace punch, Kaiser Scrapbook pearls, corner chomper, sewing machine/thread

Pom Pom Flowers

Howdy!  I have a totally fun project to share with you today!  Wendy Smedley had the cutest paper flower arrangement posted on her blog the other day including a tutorial for how to make these cute little flowers on a stick, that you could put in your flower arrangement.  I loved the flowers so much, but decided to leave off the stick part and just make them flat to use on my cards and now I am in LOOOOOOVE with these little poof-ball flowers!!  Aren't they FUN?!

I made my flowers out of vintage book print (a book I bought at a thrift store) and stamped Polka Dot Basics II and Damask Designs on a couple of the layers in my flowers to give them a little pop of color.  The pattern stamped across the bottom of the card is one of my favorites from Background Basics: Diamonds and the sentiment is from Signature Greetings.  SUCH a fun and simple card!  Give these flowers a try....I bet you'll love them too!  And if you love 'em but don't want to make them yourself, not to worry.  I'm planning on making oodles for my Etsy Shop because I love 'em so much, so keep an eye out if you're interested!  :)

 

Hope you're having a great week.  As Thanksgiving quickly approaches here in the US, I'm looking forward to spending the holiday with both sides of our family.  Can't wait!  Are you getting ready for the holiday festivities at your house?

{Hope Your Day is Fabulous supplies}
Paper: kraft, bitty box basics, vintage book print
Stamps: Signature Greetings, Background Basics: Diamonds, Polka Dot Basics II, Damask Designs
Ink: dark chocolate, vintage cream, berry sorbet
Other: berry sorbet saddle stitch ribbon, SU! scallop circle punch, Marvy extra jumbo scallop circle punch, Making Memories brads

Peachy Keen

Hi-ya Peeps.....I have a happy little Thank You card to share with you today!  I have been back at it, making more embellies so I thought I'd show you a couple of them paired up on a card today.  I punched out the flowers with my Marvy flower punches and on the smallest (cream) flower, I stamped a Giga Guide Lines medallion.  Then I balled them all up, unfolded them a bit and stitched the layers together with a sweet blush button.  The small scalloped circle is one that I punched out with my Marvy extra jumbo scalloped circle punch (the yellow punch) and stamped some Polka Dot Basics II on it before adding a threaded button to the center of it.  

I couldn't resist using the "Thank You" sentiment from the Big & Bold Wishes set to finish off my card!  

 

I love this soft and sweet color combo of Papertrey's sweet blush, melon berry, kraft & vintage cream.  So girly!  

I made up several sheets of these embellies and put them in my Etsy shop last night.  There are just a few left in case any of you are interested and for some of you, this color combo may not be your cup of tea, so hang tight....there are lots more embellies to come.  :)

Have a FABULOUS day, my friends!
 

{Thank You supplies}
Paper: melon berry, kraft, vintage cream, bitty box basics
Stamps: Big & Bold Wishes, Giga Guide Lines, Polka Dot Basics II
Ink: sweet blush
Other: melon berry classic grosgrain ribbon, sweet blush vintage buttons, rustic cream button twine, extra jumbo scalloped circle punch, flower punches-extra jumbo, mega, giga; Fiskars apron lace punch

 

Got Sketch? Blog

Hi there,

I was excited to get to play along with the sketch last week at the Got Sketch? blog!  Here's the card I created using their sketch.  Check out this post to see lots of other fun cards using this sketch as well!  

For my card, I stamped some Polka Dot Basics II in summer sunrise ink on white card stock and paired it with some ripe avocado In Bloom patterned paper.  The butterfly was cut with my SU! Bigz Beautiful Butterflies die and layered with a dark chocolate button and the sentiment is from my Mod Squad stamp set.

Hope you're all having a great day today!  I'll chat w/you again soon...
 

Paper: aqua mist, ripe avocado, dark chocolate, stamper's select white, In Bloom
Stamps: Polka Dot Basics II, Mod Squad
Ink: summer sunrise
Other: Bigz Beautiful Butterflies die, dark chocolate button, rustic cream button twine, corner rounder punch, Fiskars apron lace punch  

Papertrey - November Release Projects

 

Hi-ya Peeps!!  Happy Sunday!  Did you see THIS POST up at Nichole's blog this morning????  I'm soooo excited -- she's coming here for a visit this week - today, in fact - and I can't wait!!  She'll just be here for a few days, but we've got a "busy schedule" (haha!) planned that mostly includes relaxing, chatting and LAUGHING!  :)  There are a few adventures on the agenda too....OH, and when one foodie visits another foodie, great food is a priority as well!  You can be sure I'll be taking pictures this week so I can share our adventures with you after my sweet friend heads back home.  In the meantime, I'm making a few last minute preparations around the home front before we head to the airport to pick her up.  

I have a couple of cards to share with you today that focus on some of the other new stamp sets that were released last night at Papertrey Ink.  The first one features Big & Bold Wishes, that Nichole designed.  Talk about a FUN stamp set -- I can't wait to play with it some more!  And of course, there's some Background Basics-Diamonds on this one too.  I cut out the large circles with my Martha Stewart circle cutter and then punched out the small circles with my 1" circle punch.  I then adhered the circles to the back side of the large circles to create the look of a scalloped border.  

 

This next card features Christmas Friends, designed by Tiffany Pastor.  I stamped the largest flourish image directly on some patterned paper from the Holiday Cheer collection.  I also stamped the little birdies and then cut them out, and added a little rhinestone to one of them.  Cute, cute!

You can see complete supply lists for these cards in my gallery at Papertrey Ink.

All righty, that's all I've got for you today.  I need to tidy up the studio a bit just in case Nichole and I can break away from relaxing and chatting, long enough to stamp something!  ;)  

Hope you all have a great Sunday!
Toodles,

Signature Greetings - Day 5

Hi-ya!  Welcome back to day 5 of sneak peeks at Signature Greetings, my newest stamp set in the Raspberry Suite line-up!  I'm so thrilled to hear that so many of you are excited about this new set.  I can't wait to start seeing the projects YOU make with it!

I was so inspired by this cute apron from Anthropologie, that I decided to make all of my cards for today's post using this same color scheme -- aqua mist, ripe avocado & vintage cream!  The apron also reminded me of this cute card that my sweet friend, Betsy Veldman, made not too long ago.  Pretty, right?  So, with all of that inspiration floating around in my head, here's what I came up.....

 

 

This sweet sentiment from Signature Greetings is not only a thoughtful one to use on cards but it's a pretty one too.  :)  I stamped it in ripe avocado ink on an aqua mist card base.  My card measures 3.5" x 5.5".....such a cute little size!  I love it!  I stitched on a piece of vintage book print from an old book of children's stories that I picked up at a thrift store.  The book is pretty thick and will surely keep me in book print for my crafting for a long time to come!  :)

 

Just check out all of these gorgeous buttons that I found in my ripe avocado button jar!!!  They're sooooo pretty, each with different textures and even some bling thrown in there.  That's the great thing about Papertrey's bags of vintage buttons -- there are so many little button treasures in each bag.  You never know what you might find!  If you haven't gotten any yet, I highly recommend them.....and they're such a great value too!

 

Next up is this little 4" x 4" square card featuring the "You Are a Blessing To Me" sentiment from Signature Greetings.  I stamped it in ripe avocado ink on a vintage cream panel and then stamped a leaf image from Turning a New Leaf in spring moss ink before layering the buttons, bling and flower on top.

 

And just check out THESE buttons -- they're the shape of leaves!!  Holy cow, how cute are those?!  I didn't even know they were in my jar!  I found them while digging for buttons for the previous card!  Haha!

 

This card is sooo simple but has such a beautiful sentiment that really gets to take center stage: "I'm So Grateful For You".  Goodness, I could send this card to quite a few people that I'm grateful for.  How about you?

 

The aqua mist panel is stamped with Giga Guide Lines in aqua mist ink and the card front was embossed with my swiss dot embossing folder.

 

And lastly, you saw this "So Sweet of You" sentiment the other day, but I couldn't resist using it again....I just love it.  I cut out the sentiment die cut with my Cricut Expression and the Storybook cartridge.  I stamped the sentiment first with ripe avocado ink and then added the flourish (from Fancy Flourishes) with versamark ink.  And of course, there are some Polka Dot Basics II here as well as some Damask Designs.  

I hope you've enjoyed this week's countdown projects!  Tonight is the big night -- it's release night at Papertrey Ink when all of the new products you've gotten glimpses of this week will be available for purchase.  The fun starts at 10pm EST when the release party kicks off in the Papertrey Forum.  I'll be there to chat and would love it if you'd come say hi!

Hope you have a GREAT day, Friends.  Be sure to stop in for one last sneak peek post at Nichole's blog as well as Alli Miles' and Tiffany Pastor's blogs.

See you tonight in the forum!!
 

{Hope Your Day is Fabulous supplies}
Paper: aqua mist, ripe avocado, vintage book print
Stamps: Signature Greetings
Ink: ripe avocado, vintage touch tea dye
Other: ripe avocado buttons, rustic jute button twine, ripe avocado topnotch twill ribbon, EK Success embossed curve punch, sewing machine/thread

{You Are a Blessing To Me supplies}
Paper: aqua mist, vintage cream, in bloom
Stamps: Signature Greetings, Turning a New Leaf
Ink: ripe avocado, spring moss, vintage touch tea dye
Other: ripe avocado vintage buttons, Cricut Expression/Accents Essentials cartridge, Fiskars apron lace punch, Kaiser Scrapbook rhinestones, sewing machine/thread

{I'm So Grateful For You supplies}
Paper: vintage cream, aqua mist
Stamps: Signature Greetings, Giga Guide Lines
Ink: aqua mist
Other: aqua mist luxe satin ribbon, aqua mist vintage button, swiss dot embossing folder, corner rounder punch

{So Sweet of You supplies}
Paper: aqua mist, ripe avocado, vintage cream
Stamps: Signature Greetings, Damask Designs, Polka Dot Basics II, Fancy Flourishes
Ink: ripe avocado, aqua mist, versamark
Other: Cricut Expression/Storybook cartridge, SU! scallop edge punch, sewing machine/thread 

Home Made

NOTE: This is the SECOND POST for today so be sure to scroll on down to see my Signature Greetings - Day 4 post!  

Hello there,

It's another Group Post night for the Design Team Girls at Papertrey Ink!  Today, our assignment was to create a house using the new Home Made Timeless Template and the coordinating Home Made stamp set designed by Nichole Heady, as well as a card using the stamp set!  When you purchase this Timeless Template (available on Nov. 15), you will get an inspiration download filled with Home Made houses made by each of the design team members!  Included in that download are all of the supply lists and instructions for recreating each of our projects!

Nichole also asked us to create a card using the Home Made stamp set and this is what I came up with!  This set works so well for creating cute little homey-themed cards.  I can't wait to create some more with it!

 

For my card, I used some new terracotta tile card stock for my card base.  I stamped the "stones" image along the bottom of the 'house' and then added my windows and door.

 

For the roof, I printed the roof piece from the Timeless Template and then hand cut it out to resemble a roof shape for the front of this card.  I LOVE how easy it was to use that part of the template as a roof on my card!  FUN!

 

For the windows, I stamped the curtains first on vintage cream card stock with terracotta tile ink and then stamped the window frames in dark chocolate over the top of the curtains.  After I cut them out, I inked up all of the edges with some vintage touch tea dye ink.  

This was such a fun card to make!  Hop on over to Nichole's blog to see what she created with this super ingenious new stamp set and template and then you'll want to check out what the other Design Team girlies have created too!

Mish Wooderson
Heather Nichols
Debbie Olson
Betsy Veldman
Melissa Phillips
Niki Estes
Lisa Johnson
Becky Oehlers
Lauren Meader
Geny Cassady

Be sure to scroll on down to see more peeks at Signature Greetings and I'll be back tomorrow for one more day of peeks before the official release!  

Take care,
 

{Thank You supplies}
Paper: terracotta tile, dark chocolate, vintage cream
Stamps: Home Made
Ink: terracotta tile, dark chocolate, vintage touch tea dye
Other: terracotta tile classic grosgrain, Home Made Timeless Template

Signature Greetings - Day 4

Hello!  It's Day 4 of sneak peeks at my newest stamp set (available Nov. 15), Signature Greetings!  You may recognize this first sentiment, "You Make Me Smile", from the first sneak peek preview of this set that Nichole showed on her blog last week.  I just love this sentiment.....so great for so many people and for so many reasons!

 

I created my own layered 'flower' out of circles that I stamped, roughed up the edges with my Heidi Swapp edge distresser, inked with distressing ink, stacked up and stitched a button to.  :)  I paired up some new terracotta tile and berry sorbet card stock with dark chocolate, vintage cream and kraft on this card.  And I'll bet you'll notice a couple of patterns on this card (that I TOLD you I can't seem to stop using) from the new Background Basics: Diamonds set that Nichole designed (also available Nov. 15).  On the cream panel, that pattern is stamped in VersaMark ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder.  Then I used some vintage touch tea dye ink around the edges before I stitched it to the front of my card.

 

Next up is a bold and bright card with a sentiment that is SOOOO much fun!  Can't you just see using this sentiment for the awesome girls in your life?  Your BFF, your mom, your sisters, your daughters, your nieces, friends at church or in your neighborhood???  The list goes on and on!  This sentiment could also be used on birthday cards, thank you cards, encouragement cards, etc.  If you had this sentiment, who would you make a card for with it????

 

This card is so simple but it packs a lot of punch.  I used some In Bloom patterned paper in ripe avocado for the background.  The butterfly is die cut with the SU! Bigz Beautiful Butterflies die from summer sunrise card stock. Then I stamped some text from Background Basics: Text Style II on it, followed by a flourish from Fancy Flourishes.  The button detail is actually two buttons stacked and threaded together, and then adhered to the butterfly.  So cheery, right?

 

Lastly for today is another simple card with an elegant flair.  I stamped the background pattern using Giga Guide Lines.  This beautiful sentiment (also from Signature Greetings) is stamped in plum pudding ink on lavender moon card stock with a border from Vintage Labels stamped around it in lavender moon ink.  A few Kaiser Scrapbook rhinestones were added to the centers of the medallions as well as to the sentiment panel.

 

What are you thinking about Signature Greetings now that you've seen 4 days of sneak peeks?  Are there sentiments that you're feeling would be a perfect fit for your stamp collection?  Did you have a favorite project or sentiment from today's post?  I'd love to hear from you!

I hope you have a fantastic Friday and I'll be back again tomorrow with one last day of Signature Greetings sneakie peeks for you before the official release!  Also, don't forget to check in with Alli Miles and Tiffany Pastor to see more looks at their new stamp sets too!

Have a goodie!
 

{You Make Me Smile supplies}
Paper: berry sorbet, terracotta tile, dark chocolate, vintage cream, kraft
Stamps: Signature Greetings, Background Basics: Diamonds
Ink: berry sorbet, dark chocolate, versamark
Other: clear embossing powder, terracotta tile vintage button, rustic cream button twine, terracotta tile classic grosgrain ribbon, corner rounder punch, sewing machine/thread

{Girly, You Rock! supplies}
Paper: ripe avocado, raspberry fizz, summer sunrise, stamper's select white, in bloom
Stamps: Signature Greetings, Background Basics: Text Style II, Fancy Flourishes
Ink: ripe avocado, summer sunrise, versamark
Other: raspberry fizz luxe satin ribbon, summer sunrise vintage buttons, rustic cream button twine, EK Success diamond lace punch, SU! Bigz Beautiful Butterflies die

{Thank You supplies}
Paper: plum pudding, lavender moon, vintage cream
Stamps: Signature Greetings, Giga Guide Lines, Vintage Labels
Ink: plum pudding, lavender moon
Other: lavender moon classic grosgrain, Kaiser Scrapbook rhinestones

Communique Curves Inspirations

NOTE: This is the SECOND POST for today so be sure to scroll down to see Day 3 of Signature Greetings sneak peeks!!!  ;)  

Hi there!!  It's Group Post night for the Papertrey Design Team girls!  Nichole challenged each of us to create a holiday card using Alli Miles new stamp set - Communique Curves as well as a card for a different occasion using the coordinating set, Communique Curves Sentiments.  By keeping the layout the same, all you have to do is swap out your colors and the sentiment and you can really maximize your studio time!  Why reinvent the wheel, right?  If you've got a great layout that you love, don't be afraid to use it again!!  Just look for ways to change it up a bit with the patterns and colors you use!

 

Here, I've made my Christmas version of this card with a pretty wreath image and the "Home for the holidays" sentiment from Communique Curves.  I kept it nice and simple and let the Rustic Snowflakes patterned paper background really shine!  

 

 

For my second card, I used the same wreath image with a Happy Birthday sentiment.  Same layout but this time I chose a patterned paper from the Autumn Abundance collection.  

 

It was so easy to create this second card because I kept the basic layout just like the first card which allowed me to whip out two projects in much less time than it normally would have taken and yet, the cards have each got a totally different look. 

For tons of inspiration, check out the projects that Nichole and the rest of the design team girls have created to share with you!!

Betsy Veldman
Mish Wooderson
Heather Nichols
Melissa Phillips
Lisa Johnson
Lauren Meader
Niki Estes
Geny Cassady
Becky Oehlers
Debbie Olson

And don't forget, I'll be back tomorrow with more Signature Greetings cards to share with you!!  Can't wait to see you then!

 

{Home for the Holidays supplies}
Paper: spring moss, ripe avocado, vintage cream, rustic snowflakes
Stamps: Communique Curves
Ink: spring moss, ripe avocado, vintage touch tea dye
Other: pure poppy classic grosgrain ribbon, corner rounder punch, EK Success diamond lace punch

{Happy Birthday supplies}
Paper: aqua mist, dark chocolate, vintage cream, autumn abundance
Stamps: Communique Curves
Ink: dark chocolate, orange zest, vintage touch tea dye
Other: aqua mist classic grosgrain ribbon, corner rounder punch, EK Success diamond lace punch